“Jesus Christ is Lord over my heart, and he is Lord over my hands, and he is Lord over what I do with these hands, and he is Lord over what I say in my heart while I’m doing it. In submitting to the lordship of Christ, then, I do not treat washing dishes as wasting time I could be spending doing something ‘meaningful,’ but rather as a service to those who eat in my home, as a service to those who would have to wash dishes if I did not, and as an offering of thanksgiving to God that I have food to eat, dishes to eat it on, and running water inside my home to clean with.” (Jared C. Wilson, Gospel Wakefulness)

by Richard Shin

We have a great set for you all. Here we go:

• Kevin DeYoung gives us 10 reasons to believe in a historical Adam.
• Jared C. Wilson shares 7 ways to kill the Thanksgiving impulse in your life. So basically, if you find yourself doing any of these things, don’t.
• This week has lots of Jared Wilson. Here’s one about being a good solider.
• Paul Tautges shares 20 ways Satan may seek to destroy you and some ways we can guard ourselves against Satan’s ways.
• Since we started a new series on Sundays on biblical counseling, here’s a word from Paul Tautges on whether or not theological foundations matter for counseling.
• Rick Holland writes that the appreciation of truth is not the application of truth.

That should satisfy your hunger until next week. Hope you guys have a fantastic weekend.

Coram Deo

“Why restore Christ to counseling? The wider counseling world views Jesus as irrelevant to understanding and addressing people’s deepest personal and interpersonal troubles. He might as well not even exist. Whoever he is, whatever he did, whatever he is doing, whatever he will do, and however he does it—it’s all intellectually and practically insignificant. The Jesus Christ of the Bible does not appear in self-help books, in classrooms, or in the licensure of mental health personnel. He apparently has no traction when it comes to the problems that break down lives and break up relationships.

But we believe that true, life-explaining insight into people necessarily involves thinking Christianly. Loving, lasting help necessarily involves practicing ‘counseling’ as one aspect of consciously Christian ministry. The deeper you gaze into what actually goes wrong with people—the weight of our sins and sorrows—the more clearly you see that Jesus Christ is essential to making it right.” (David Powlison, Journal of Biblical Counseling, Issue 26.1, “JBC: Renewing Our Mission”)

by Stephen Rodgers

In order to focus more on other writing and editorial duties, I typically leave Weekly Links to Richard these days.  Occasionally though, something happens that causes me to stick my finger back into the pie.

After a four-year hiatus, the Journal of Biblical Counseling has returned. I specifically mention this because their operating model is a bit odd, so if you want to enjoy their work at no cost, you’ll need to be on your toes:

• Each issue will be available for free online until the next issue is released.
• When a new issue is released, the previous issue will be archived.
• Archived issues are available for purchase through their store.

If Biblical Counseling is of interest to you, this is going to be a resource you will want to stay on top of. And yes, I’ve added the journal to our recommended resources page.

Coram Deo

There are two possible responses to the death of Christ for our sin: we can regard it as foolish and so maintain our self-sufficiency and pride, or we can regard it as wisdom and die with Christ. There is only one way that leads to life. (John Piper, “The Wisdom of Men and the Power of God“)

 by Richard Shin

• First off, it’s important to provide you with a fantastic book from which I’m sure many of us can benefit: Revelation and Inspiration by B. B. Warfield. You must know that you have to download and install the Logos Bible Software in order to take advantage of this offer. There is a free version available for you, so go right ahead and use it for your edification.
• Last week, Stephen linked a recap of what happened with the Elephant Room 2. Kevin DeYoung offers seven thoughts on what transpired from it.
• Paul Tautges has quickly become one of my favorite bloggers. Here, he talks about how we can approach the unapproachable God.
• Paul (from previous link, not of Damascus) also gives a very detailed book review for a short book called Christians Get Depressed Too. You can find them in four parts: part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.
• Richard Pratt Jr., the same guy who wrote our textbook for Stephen’s class on Presuppositional Apologetics, encourages us by looking at what the Bible says about broken homes and how we are to persevere through those situations.
• You may already know that R. C. Sproul’s wife, Denise, went to be with the Lord at the end of last year. He shares with us his thoughts and reflections forty days afterward.

That’s it for now, folks. Hope you enjoy your weekend. See you guys!

Coram Deo

With such a contradiction hanging over his head in a Damoclean fashion, it seemed to me that Mr. Hitchens was ever at risk of being waylaid by the grace he rejected. For while we know from the Apostle John that Heaven rejoices in the just punishment of the guilty, we also know from the Lord Jesus Christ that it rejoices in the salvation of the lost. And while we often associate God’s patience with a forestalling of judgment, it occurs to me that salvation could also be framed (at least poetically), as a divine unwillingness to forestall grace. And as I note elsewhere in this essay, one takeaway from the book of Job is that any attempt to dictate terms to God falls into a category that theologians have historically referred to as “really stupid ideas.” (Stephen Rodgers, “The New Atheism, Fast Company, and the Integrity of Doubt”)

by Stephen Rodgers

I intended to let this pass without comment, but Peter Lim had other ideas.

As someone at our church noticed (Cesar), the most recent issue of the apologetics journal In Antithesis featured a familiar article by yours truly. It’s especially fun to note that the article actually originated here on the Beacon.

• The original article can be found here.
• The issue of In Antithesis containing the re-worked article can be found here. (Also, I would recommend to you a previous issue found here).
• While I have the highest respect for the work that the CH crew does, I thought their formatting left a bit to be desired. If you’re really interested, a .pdf version formatted according to my personal preferences can be downloaded here.

Coram Deo

By this rejection of God, agnosticism has embraced complete relativism. Yet this relativism must furnish a basis for the rejection of the absolute. Accordingly, the standard of self-contradiction taken for granted by antitheistic thought presupposes the absolute for its operation. Antitheism presupposes theism. One must stand upon the solid ground of theism to be an effective antitheist. (Cornelius Van Til, A Survey of Christian Epistemology)

by Stephen Rodgers

Hey everyone!  Welcome to Friday; we’ve got a bunch of really good stuff for you this week as you head into the weekend.

News

• Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard something about the second Elephant Room conference.  In case you haven’t, or you just want a recap of the incident, Justin Taylor has you covered.
• Analogical Thoughts, one of my favorite blogs, has relocated. If you’d like a taste of what Dr. Anderson regularly brings to the party when he posts, check out “Antitheism Presupposes Theism (and so does every other -ism)”

Resources

•  It’s a new month, and so christianaudio.com has a new free audio book for you!  This month it’s Trusting God by Jerry Bridges.  You definitely don’t want to miss this one.
• Truth for Life (the publisher) is now offering a number of resources at wholesale.
• There’s a new issue of Tabletalk entitled Love Never Fails. I’ve updated the archive.  You do know about the archive right?
• AIG has been making articles from some of their collections available for free. Given one of my past articles I’m especially excited to see that Contradictions and Contradictions 2 are part of that offering.
• Also, you should know that Desiring God has made John Piper’s book Bloodlines available for free.

That should keep you busy!

Well, as Frank Turk often says, enjoy the digital delights, but make sure that you’re in the Lord’s house with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s day.

See you there.

All inadequate doctrines of the atonement are due to inadequate doctrines of God and man. If we bring God down to our level and raise ourselves to his, then of course we see no need for a radical salvation, let alone for a radical atonement to secure it. When, on the other hand, we have glimpsed the blinding glory of the holiness of God, and have been so convicted of our sin by the Holy Spirit that we tremble before God and acknowledge what we are, namely ‘hell–deserving sinners’, then and only then does the necessity of the cross appear so obvious that we are astonished we never saw it before. (John Stott, The Cross of Christ)

by Richard Shin

We have a great set of articles for you to read. Here you go:

• Ray Ortlund talks about what it means to be successful in Jesus.
• Byron Yawn from the Cripplegate helps us understand from what we were saved when we became Christians. Many of us would say “from our sins,” which isn’t wrong per se, but he explains it doesn’t paint the full picture of what happened.
• Russel Moore shares why the humanity of Christ matters.
• Michael Patton from Parchment and Pen responds to an anonymous letter who feels God is so silent in his life. What he says is biblical, both truthful and loving. And on a related note, here he encourages us to continue to wait on the Lord even when it feels like God is not there.
• Paul Tautges from the Counseling One Another blog shares it is not shameful to hide in God.
• Jon Bloom from Desiring God encourages us to not be afraid to pray “whatever it takes.”

That’s it for now. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Coram Deo

Many prayers fail of their errand because there is no faith in them. Prayers which are filled with doubt are requests for refusal. Imagine that you wrote to a friend and said, ‘Dear Friend, I am in great trouble and I, therefore, tell you, and ask for your help because it seems right to do so. But though I thus write, I have no belief that you will send me any help. Indeed, I should be mightily surprised if you did and should speak of it as a great wonder.’

Will you get the help, do you think? I should say your friend would be sensible enough to observe the little confidence which you have in him and he would reply that, as you did not expect anything, he would not astonish you. Your opinion of his generosity is so low that he does not feel called upon to put himself out of the way on your account.

When prayers are of that kind you cannot wonder if we ‘have not, because we ask amiss.’ (Charles Spurgeon, Ask and Have)

by Richard Shin

Here are some weekly links for you to chew on this weekend.

• Michael Patton gives a defense of Christianity to himself. Can you, in your own mind, give a defense for the hope you have?
• He also gives some very practical advice for those who know Christians doubting their faith.
• Ray Ortlund shares an excerpt on how Zwingli and fellow scholars studied the Bible back in the 16th Century. It’s a sobering reminder that we ought to rejoice in the abundance of resources, thanks to the many scholars that came before us and the Holy Spirit that empowered them.
• As we close our time during second hour on biblical manhood and womanhood, John Piper and Darrin Patrick discuss this topic in this video.
• Rick Holland wrote an open letter to his son, who turned 16 this past week. Some wise advice from a loving father to his son.
• Dan Philips from the Pyromaniacs blog asks a simple question, “Is Christianity rational?”
• The Resurgence posted about The Great Debate. If you haven’t heard it before, you need to hear this now.

That’s all folks. Have a great weekend, everybody!

Coram Deo

The next Jonathan Edwards might be the man driving in front of you with the Darwin Fish bumper decal. The next Charles Wesley might be a misogynist, profanity-spewing hip-hop artist right now. The next Billy Graham might be passed out drunk in a fraternity house right now. The next Charles Spurgeon might be making posters for a Gay Pride March right now. The next Mother Teresa might be managing an abortion clinic right now. (Russell Moore, “The Next Billy Graham Might Be Drunk Right Now”)

by Stephen Rodgers

Welcome to the first weekly links of 2012!  I hope you saw the article Monday about the Hub Post Directory; if not, now’s a great time to check it out!

In the meantime, here’s a list of links for you from outside LBC…let’s start out with some new free resources:

• The latest edition of the 9Marks eJournal is an issue on the importance of Sunday School.
• The January edition of Tabletalk is out, entitled The Apocalypse of John; it focuses on various issues related to the book of Revelation.
• And the latest issue of CredoMag just came out, entitled “In Christ Alone;” it argues for the exclusivity of the Gospel.
• Last but not least, this month’s free resource from christianaudio.com is JI Packer’s classic Knowing God. You definitely don’t want to miss that free download!

Also, since it’s 2012 now, a number of people will be starting new Bible-reading plans.  And on that topic…

• Hopefully you’re already aware that we have a section of our Recommended Resources page devoted to the subject of Bible-Reading Plans.
• In addition to those, Justin Taylor recently posted an updated list of plans, as did Nathan Bingham over at Ligonier Ministries.
• If you’re still trying to pick a plan, Dan Philips has an article on the importance of having a plan, and Tim Challies makes a case for Grant Horner’s system.

And last but not least, for something else to think about…

• This week’s quote was brought to you from an article by Russell Moore, who recounts a conversation he once had with Carl F. Henry.  Be sure to check that out, and prayerfully consider the importance of evangelism in light of God’s plan for the church.

That’s it for this week! I hope you enjoyed the articles, and we’ll see you on Sunday!

Pro Rege